Shandong Taishan vs Yokohama F. Marinos

Jinan Olympic Sports Center Stadium is the venue as Shandong Taishan and Yokohama F. Marinos meet in the first leg of their mouth-watering AFC Champions League quarter-final tie.

Shandong pulled off an unexpected second-leg comeback in the opening Champions League knockout round, overhauling a 3-2 first-leg deficit against Kawasaki Frontale with a stunning 4-2 win on the road. Still waiting for their first standout success on the continental front, Shandong will take the field in a buoyant mood after kicking off the new Chinese Super League season with a 4-2 home victory against Changchun Yatai. Like in the abovementioned triumph at Kawasaki, Choi Kang-hee’s side scored two first-half goals against Changchun, highlighting the potential for a quick-fire start. They’ll probably need to replicate that performance to increase their chances of reaching the semi-finals, not least because they lost both group-stage encounters against Yokohama without a reply.

In the meantime, Yokohama survived an extra-time drama in their last-16 tie against Thai outfit Bangkok United to progress into this round as 3-2 aggregate winners. However, the Japanese heavyweights have since blown hot and cold, registering a win and a loss across their two J1 League outings in the build-up to this clash. Yokohama conceded first in both those matches, a feat they’ll be keen to avoid in China. Harry Kewell’s men have delivered a mixed bag of performance in this season’s Champions League (W2, D1, L1). Barring a 1-0 win at Shandong in round two, their three remaining conventional travels have featured over 2.5 goals and both teams on the scoresheet, underscoring the likelihood of a high-scoring contest.